The Almighty Ring

“Correct. Anyway, for the meantime, I would like to invite you to my humble abode,” Jiang Fei suggested invitingly.

For now, the truth shall remain hidden behind the veil. There were things that not even his master could comprehend about the invaders.

“I accept the invitation. However, I will take my leave soon to investigate the aliens myself,” Theon answered.

“Master, about your… ride.” Jiang Fei gawked at the planet-sized Ultralisk.

“I’ll leave it here,” Theon said. He of all people knew just how unnatural it was for an Ultralisk this size to be amongst others.

A bright light flashed and both Jiang Fei and Theon were teleported back to Turandot. Teleportation of such degree was nothing but an easy feat for Theon.

“Can I serve you anything?” Jiang Fei asked as he arranged an empty room for his master. There was literally no one left on Turandot except his own men. Empty rooms were everywhere and a few were left unkempt.

“Gather everything you have on the aliens and send me a copy. The more detailed, the better,” Theon requested him.

“At your service, my master. Please wait for a bit. I will prepare them now,” Jiang Fei said and left the planet to board the commander’s ship of the Fifth Hybrid Fleet.

…

“Huh?! Commander Jiang Fei? Where have you been?” one of the captains asked.

“Why am I obligated to inform you of my whereabouts?” Jiang Fei hummed as he glared at the captain ominously. The scar on his forehead opened slightly and a dimmed black light glowed for a second.

“Huh? Why would I say such a thing?” Jiang Fei came to his senses immediately after uttering such words. He knew that he had been momentarily hijacked by the black malice. However, by the time he took notice of its effect the black matter noticed it and had disappeared without a trace. His forehead returned to normal.

“Shit…” Jiang Fei sighed.

This thing inside of him was probably not a ticking-time bomb but a bomb nevertheless that exploded at random times. That worried him. A lot. Problem was, he could never find it on his body. There was no way for him to isolate it. For now, perhaps… hopefully…

“Sorry about that. I need you to gather and consolidate every bit of information we have on the Alpha Sector phenomenon. I need them fast,” Jiang Fei ordered.

A higher ranking officer of the fleet came and took the responsibility. Everyone was wary about Jiang Fei’s sudden behavior and was careful to tread light around him.

Jiang Fei fled the bridge and into the walkway. When he was alone, he let out a long sigh.

“We meet again, Jiang Fei.”

Just then, someone came out from the bridge and spoke to Jiang Fei clearly and monotonously. He knew this crew member as he saw him operating on the bridge. As the Fleet Commander, Jiang Fei would need to get used to the faces of his crew members. That being said, he could never remember every single face in his fleet. Recognizing a few important officers was still beyond his limits.

“You are?” Jiang Fei said. Although he recognized the man, he could not remember his name nor the reason why would he say “again.”

“Forgive my appearance. It is me, Velon, the Watcher.”

“What are you doing here?” said Jiang Fei as he averted his gaze. There were so many problems brewing inside his head and he could not welcome another one. Based on previous encounters, a Watcher making his presence known to Jiang Fei never was beneficial.

“I have two reasons to be here. First, to ask you a question, and secondly, based on your answer to said question, to grant you a boon or penance.”

A smile etched on the soldier’s face.

“Penance…” Jiang Fei noted the tone of the Watcher when he uttered the word “penance” with a certain ring.

As a Watcher of the universe, Velon could engage in a conversation for a short period of time. So Jiang Fei understood that his offering of a boon would be vital information and not something tangible.

As for penance, however, Jiang Fei could not think of a way as to how a Watcher would punish him.

“Answer this carefully and honestly as your reply will determine the result,” Velon said. His intonation reverted back to being monotonous.

“Ask away.”

Jiang Fei was done with being coy with a Watcher. He knew that a Watcher would not simply appear in front of anyone for the sake of passing time. There must be something crucial at hand for Velon to appear now. Their existence must be for something important that Jiang Fei might not understand or appreciate now, but in the end, they posed as an important existence.

The first time Jiang Fei met Velon was when he had first grasped the truth about space and other civilizations. During that time, he was merely curious about their existence and not the reason for their existence. Now, after knowing about the higher dimension, Jiang Fei had a feeling that Watchers might not be who they said they were.

“What do you think about the people from the Gamma Dimension?” Velon posed his first question. Instead of using the term “invaders”, he had chosen to refer to them as people from the Gamma Dimension. With that, Jiang Fei realized that Velon already found out that he knew about the truth.

“You knew?” Jiang Fei replied with a question.

“I know everything. Back to the question. I want to hear your thoughts about them,” Velon said.

“I do not know what they are. For now, I don’t even know what I should describe them as. They could be gods, they could be people like me. Perhaps the entire universe is nothing but a piece of art, painted on a piece of canvas hung in a basement. However, I know that I have my own conscience and I recognize that there are others like me who have people they love, people they care about. I do not want to die. I do not want the girls to die. Even if I found out about the truth; that I was a product of creation by a god, I will rebel and resist impending destruction,” Jiang Fei answered truthfully.

Velon glared at Jiang Fei for a moment.

The atmosphere in the walkway was cold and the interaction between the two had only made it colder.

“I can tell you this. This universe is a product of creation. But you, a living being, as well as all other living beings, were not created by them. You are the product of, in your own terms, nature. And that is something they do not like,” Velon revealed.

“So… that means…” Jiang Fei figured something out but he could not finish his train of thought without further information.

“Let me put it in your context. I’ve made a shirt and after some time of not caring for it, bugs appeared on it. Right now, I’m feeling benevolent about the bugs, so I decided to play with them a little. However, no matter how much fun I am having with the bugs, I need to use the shirt and to do that, I need to exterminate the bugs.”

Based on Velon’s interpretation, Jiang Fei understood the omen that he was shedding light on.

Jiang Fei and all other living beings that were a part of the universe were a group of existence that the people of the Gamma Dimension could not live with. To them, all living beings in this universe were parasites; things that brought harm. Right now, they were using this universe as a playground for their own people. But the day will come when the game itself would shut down and the parasites eliminated.

“I will never accept that end! I will never allow myself, or the people here, to be eliminated by them!” Jiang Fei roared defiantly.

“Is that your answer?” Velon asked. His tone changed slightly.

“That is my final answer.”